Spinzilla 2015

Last week was Spinzilla 2015.

From www.spinzilla.org: Spinzilla is a global event where teams and individuals compete in a friendly challenge to see who can spin the most yarn in a week. Spinner registration fees are donated to the Needle Arts Mentoring Program.

I spun 2680 yards of yarn during the week (about a mile and a half). Not too bad considering that I had more meetings, appointments and drive time than usual.

I began by selecting fiber from my stash that I wanted to work with.

To spin the fiber I used a drop spindle, a kick spindle and a Lendrum double treadle spinning wheel.

Once completed, I needed to measure the length of all of the spun yarn. Some of my yarn was plied with itself, so that was easy to skein and measure with my skein winder. Some of my yarn needed to be left as singles so that I can ply them later. They made an unruly skein, so I measured them on my skein winder and wrapped them with contrasting light colored yarn while they were on the skein winder.

The singles I spun on the kick spindle and the final few bobbins that I spun on the Lendrum were left on their bobbins and had to be measured by calculating the weight (more on that in another post).

Lisa at #TeamDarnYarnHarmony gave me a gift bag with camel fiber and a yarn gauge!

During #Spinzilla2015 I learned:

I can reliably spin finer yarn on my kick spindle than on my Lendrum or my drop spindle.

My double treadle Lendrum can be quite difficult to use if it needs oiled.

Spinning for hours on end is hard work! (But I loved every minute of it!)

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About The Author

Helene Jacobs, author of the Ancient Wire jewelry making series, specializes in recreating ancient jewelry from many different cultures. She gives her readers detailed instructions for creating beautiful historic jewelry and shows them where they can learn more about the history of the pieces. As she finds new information on the artifacts in her books, Helene updates her websites, www.AncientWire.com & www.HeleneJacobs.com .
Helene has been researching history for over 30 years and has received several awards from a worldwide historical organization. At the request of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Helene created a replica of a 2500 year old necklace from the Mysterious Bog People exhibit.
Helene has always had a passion for creating, figuring things out and teaching. As soon as she discovered techniques to make beautiful jewelry simply, she began teaching classes. Her class handout evolved into her first book, Ancient Wire, an instructional book for creating chains and other items of jewelry with the method variously known as Viking wire weaving, Viking chain knitting or Viking knit. Ancient Wire II followed, demonstrating how to make timeless items that are still beautiful today, but were originally created over 1000 years ago. These books can be found on her web site www.AncientWire.com or at www.amazon.com/author/helenejacobs , and will be joined by other books in the Ancient Wire series.
Helene's latest book is How to Make Your Own Kick Spindle Spinning Wheel For Spinning Fiber into Yarn. The designs presented in this book can be easily customized to fit your needs; several of the Kick Spindle Spinning Wheel designs are adapted from historical examples and artwork. There are even options for doing more than just spinning with your Kick Spindle Spinning Wheel, like using it to wind balls of yarn.
After traveling extensively with her military family, Helene settled in Pennsylvania with her husband, son, father, and fluffy dog, where she likes to relax with her friends over a good cup of coffee, and update her blog www.AncientWireBlog.com with her various crafty endeavors.
Though it takes just a few tools to make the jewelry described in her books, Helene has an embarrassingly large collection of pliers.
Helene had to test designs for her book How to Make Your Own Kick Spindle Spinning Wheel, which resulted in an embarrassingly large collection of spinning wheels and fiber. :-)

What would you like to create today?

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On my website AncientWire.com you will find my books on historical jewelry making, photos of ancient jewelry, tutorials,
my class schedule and information about the history of jewelry.
All material on this website is copyright 2016 by Helene Jacobs and may not be copied or reproduced in any form.

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